Your guide on how to thrive & very much survive the 12 Days of CrossFit CBD Christmas......

By Coach Steph.

.

The 12 days leading into Christmas really is a fun and unique time at CBD. 12 days and 12 named workouts later, what better way to countdown to the Christmas break with your training buddies. For some, this will be a great opportunity to re-test some benchmark workouts after a full year of training, and for others, this might be the first ever time experiencing what these famous workouts are all about and set some benchmarks of your own for the future. Now, we have had some benchmark workouts popping up in your regular programming since April this year as part of your CrossFit CBD 2019 Benchmark Cycle Series, so most of you now have some experience with how we attack these and the importance of recording your time, your score and your scaling. This 12-day experience will be no different. The 12 days of Christmas is a CrossFit CBD institution so you can bet that some of these will come up again next year ready for you to prove your fitness once again. Take your time writing your scores in and pop in as many notes as you like. It could be over this 12 days that your goals for 2020.   For those of you who are super excited by this – and why wouldn’t you be? – and want to attempt every single one of these workouts, be prepared. Each one of these WOD’s will have a unique stimulus of their own and will more than likely have you laying on the floor in a sweaty mess wondering what just happened. We are by no means advising against trying to attack each and every one, however, we want to offer up some advice to ensure that you come out of it safe and sound ready to enjoy your holiday break with your loved ones. If you plan on attempting to do most-to-all of the Benchmarks then read on and make sure you apply the principles. We are not a superhero you know! We will also still advocate at least 2 rest days each week, including the Sundays when we are closed, in order to fully experience the two weeks in the vain the workouts were originally designed).  

So how can you make the most of this experience safely:

  Tip 1 – Fuel Yourself properly If you are usually rolling into the box without having eaten anything that morning or for 3 or more hours, you might want to think about changing up your current nutrition routine. Your body needs fuel to be able to complete the tasks you are asking of it. Think about when you run your car on empty (or on the wrong fuel for that matter) eventually something will go wrong or you might just get stuck in your tracks. Your body is no different. It needs constant fuelling of the right fuel sources in order for it to run smoothly and efficiently. Our recommendation, focus on carbohydrate and protein sources with little fat in the lead up to your workout – around 90 minutes before is a good time to eat without feeling too full and sick going into your training. The same goes for post workout, get a meal into you as soon as you can stomach it to ensure your body can recover from everything you just put it through. Your muscles need repairing and you will need the extra energy to continue with your day. If you are someone who is inclined to only eat one or two meals a day, (firstly what's that about??)  then consider upping your intake over this period. You will be less likely to pull-up sore and more likely to put in your best effort day after day.   Tip 2 – Hydration Guys, first up – our holiday period falls right at the beginning of Summer, and even though Melbourne weather can be unpredictable it is likely to be fairly warm over this two-week period. With most of us inner city dwellers working in air-conditioned offices it can be easy to forget how warm it is outside and often forget to drink. Getting adequate water into you is going to be of primary importance, it should be anyway, but if you can start making good habits now you might find yourself reaching for the water bottle more often in the future. The other likelihood during this time is work functions and parties. Drinking alcohol dehydrates the body, we all know this, so if you are having some drinks the night before, you will need to make sure you drink even more water to ensure you get to the gym fully hydrated to work hard. If you had loads of drinks the night before or are having some drinks the day of, perhaps reconsider whether it is actually a good idea for you to come in at all. If you are drunk or hungover your coaches will prioritise your safety, which will mean not completing the workout that day.   Tip 3 – Sleep Sleep is the most important recovery metric of all and is often the one aspect of our daily lifestyles that is most likely to be neglected. Aiming for 7-8 hours of sleep per night is the best way for your body to recover from the day before. Sleep is where we learn new skills, process experiences, store memories and repair damage done both to our bodies and our brains. If you haven’t been told about it already, go and get yourself the book “Why We Sleep” by Matthew Walker – it will blow your mind. But, trust me, the damage you can do by sleeping even one less hour per night will far outweigh anything you can achieve in that time. Get yourself to bed earlier than you want to sleep, have a warm shower, put your phone and laptop away, dim the lights, read a book (the one above works well) and hopefully you will get yourself into such a great routine with this, you will be reaping the benefits in no time. If you are someone who reaches for all the caffeine and sugar, it is highly likely that lack of sleep could be the cause. Get yourself to bed early peeps!   Tip 4 – Recovery methods Stretching and mobilising are important year round, but if you don’t make it a priority over these 12 days you might start to feel like a truck has hit you before you know it. Paying attention to how you feel and mitigate any niggles you are experiencing early, can be the difference between uncomfortable and pain free. We already like you guys to get into the gym 10-15 minutes early so instead of sitting around chatting to your pals, get together with a foam roller instead and chat while you are stretching and mobilising. It is amazing how if one person starts, the rest will follow suit. Be a leader and get everyone else involved. This also goes for post workout too, we know that you have places to be and people to see, but if you are always running off straight after class, now might be a good time to look at your schedule and see if there is anyway you can allocate more time. Running straight to your desk to sit down for 8 hours after a hard workout is a sure fire way to stiffen up and can lead to injuries in the future.   Tip 5 – Enjoy the experience These tips are our way of helping you enjoy this experience as much as possible. None of this is to lecture you about how to live your life, it is meant to guide you through injury free, feeling great about how you smashed your workouts and hopefully with some new healthy routines to take into 2020 with you.

We want you to use the 12 Days as a common bond with your training buddies & share your experiences with one another. As you get to the end of the challenge you will be wondering why you have signed up for this, but come the 13th day when it’s all done you will look back on it with fond memories knowing that you pushed yourself in each WoD and rose to your potential. You will also create some cool memories with some old & new friends along the way too – make sure to snap some pics to mark the occasion and use the hashtag: #CBD12DaysofChristmas!!

Photo credits: Angela Clancy.